diff --git a/dev_tools/update_po_files.sh b/dev_tools/update_po_files.sh
index 524721420..a921fd660 100755
--- a/dev_tools/update_po_files.sh
+++ b/dev_tools/update_po_files.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ cd ..
 
 #generate a new .po file
 #this will generate a file called messages.po
-find . -iname "*.phtml" -o -name "*.php" | xargs xgettext -L php
+find . -iname "*.phtml" -o -name "*.php" | xargs xgettext -L php --from-code=UTF-8
 
 #merge the new messages from messages.po into each existing .po file
 #this will generate new .po files